Railway transmission

ABSTRACT

The transmission relates to railway vehicles embodying electric traction in which an electric motor drives an axle of the vehicle through spur gearing the motor being mounted to one side of said axle and movable relative thereto, guide means being provided for maintaining parallelism between the motor shaft and the axle and consists in providing in said guide means at least one link pivotally connected to said motor on an axis parallel to the axis of said drive shaft and motor.

United States Patent 1 Gooch 1 1 Oct. 2, 1973 [54] RAILWAY TRANSMISSION 1962,893 6/1934 Christianson 105/138 X [76] Inventor: .John Henry Gooch, Goldsmiths FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS HaSSckS- Englaml 15,840 1/1906 Great Britain 105/135 [22] Filed: Dec. 2, 1971 A Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza [211 Appl' 204029 Assistant ExaminerHoward Beltran AttrneyErnest A. Greenside Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 9, 1970 Great Britain 58,456/ 57 ABSTRACT [52] Cl H /136 105/97 105/108 The transmission relates to railway vehicles embodying H 105/89, electric traction in which an electric motor drives an 1511 Int. Cl B6lc 9/48, F16d 3/58 F16h 1/06 axle 0f the which hmugh gearing the motor [58] Field of Search 105/123 135 136 being "mumed Side Said axle and movable l05/138 97 ative thereto, guide means being provided for maintaining parallelism between the motor shaft and the axle [56] ,Reerences Cited and consists in providing in said guide means at least one link pivotally connected to said motor on an axis UNITED STATES PATENTS parallel to the axis of said drive shaft and motor. l,575,766 3/1926 Jackson l05/l36 572,685 12/1896 Robinson 105/136 7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures 1 RAILWAY TRANSMISSION v This invention relates to an electric motor and driving wheel assembly for vehicles in which a connection is provided between the motor and the axle whose function it is to constrain the axis of the motor to always remain parallel to the axis of the axle. In a prior known construction the motor is linked to the axle by an arm rigid with said motor and journalled on said axle. This arrangement is said to be unacceptable to some railway engineers because of the disadvantages known to derive from an axle-hung motor.

According to the present invention there is provided an electric motor and driving wheel assembly comprising a supporting frame, a driving wheel axle mounting carried by said frame, a driving wheel axle supported in said axle mounting, spring suspension means between said axle mounting and said supporting frame, an electric driving motor mounted with its centre of gravity located in a vertical plane positioned to one side of the axis of said axle, a drive shaft carried by said motor, resilient support means for supporting said motor from said frame permitting vertical movement of said motor relative to said frame, guide means connected to said motor maintaining said drive shaft parallel to said axle and gearing between said drive shaft and said axle said guide means comprising at least one link pivotally connected to said axle and pivotally connected to said motor. The motor may be supported from the framework the means of support allowing the motor to tilt about an axis which is horizontal and perpendicular to its own axis so that the axis of the motor can remain parallel to the axis of the axle.

Referring to the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of one form of driven axle assembly made in accordance with the pres ent invention;

FIG. 2 is a section on the line I l--lI-of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic plan view of a modified assembly;

FIG. 4 is a section on the line IV--IV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic plan view of a further modified assembly;

FIG. 6 is a section on the line VI-VI of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a section similar to FIG. 2 of a modified construction.

Referring to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the live axle 20f the locomotive driving wheels 4 and 6 is driven through gears 8 and 10 the gear 8 being mounted on the output shaft 12 of the electric motor 14 which is suspended from the framework 16, suchas a bogie, only parts of which are indicated diagrammatically, the suspension means being indicated diagrammatically by the lines 18 drawn as shown to indicate coil springs giving a degree of springing or resilience the need for which will appear from the description that follows. Links 20 and 22 are journalled on the axle 2 and are also journalled on pivot pins 24 and .26 mounted in brackets 28 and 30 formed-onthe side of the housing of the motor 14 facing the axle 2. The axle 2 is mounted in conventional manner in axle-boxes 32 supported on leaf springs 34 from theframework 16 of which only the spring attachment portions areshown.

Themanner in which'the driven axle assembly functions is asfollows:

The links 20 and22 serve .a double purpose of regulating the centre distance and maintaining parallelism between the output shaft 12 and the live axle 2. Paral: lelism is essential in order to ensure that the gears 8 and 10 are kept in correct alignment and the resilient mounting means indicated by the lines 18 must permit tilting of the motor axis when the axle 2 tilts. A form of coil spring suspension such as is indicated dia gramatically would permit tilting. It is of course,.an inherent necessity that the assembly embodies sufficient stiffness for the links 20 and 22 not to rotate relative to each other or parallelism would be destroyed. If one of the wheels 4 or 6 passes over a track irregularity causing the axle 2 to be tilted correspondingly the resilient mounting means indicated by the lines 18 permit the motor to be tilted with the axle 2 under the control of the links 20 and 22.

Turning now to the modified embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 in which the same reference numerals are used for the same parts as are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the live axle 2 is carried in axle boxes (not shown) from the framework 16 by conventional spring suspension means (not shown), similar to that indicated in FIG. 1. The motor 14 in this embodiment is supported from the framework 16 on a beam 40 formed integral with the housing of the motor 14 the suspension means, which in this example are shown, consistin'gzof buffer members 42 resting on brackets 44. secured to the framework 16. Again such' a construction must be designed to permit parallelism to be maintained between the motor axis and axle. FIG. 3 also indicates schematically a torsionally flexible coupling arrangement45 between the gear .8 ,and the motor shaft 12. Details of such an arrangement are disclosed in my co-pending application SenNo. 70854 filed Sept. 9, 1970 and now allowed. In this embodiment the links 20 and 22 indicated diagramaticallyare journalledat one end on the axle 2 and journalled at the other end on bosses 46 and .48 at the ends of the housing of the motor 14 said bosses being concentric with the output shaft 1,2and in which saidoutput shaft l2 is journalled. Inorder toprevent any relative movement of the'links20 and 22 wjth respect ,to each other about the .axle 2 both links are welded to the ends of a tube 36 surrounding the axle "2. A similar arrangement could be provided for the embodiment shown in "FIGS. '1 and '2.

In this embodiment a constant centre distance ,is maintained between the axle 2and the output shaft '12 whereas in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the distance between the axle 2 and output shaft l 2.shortens slightly with pivotal movement of the links20and .22 aboutthe pivot pins 24 and 26.

Turning now to the modification shown in FIGS. 5

and-6. This embodimentclosely resemblesthearrangement shown in FIGS. 3 and! and thesame reference numerals are used for the same parts. The housing of themotor l4isprovidedatone end with a stub axle; 5,0 on which is journalled an intermediate idler pinion 52 'At the otherend of: the housing of the motor 14 and coaxial with the stub axle 50 is provided a pivot pin 54. The links 20 and 22 instead of being journalled on the bosses 46 and .48. arejournalled on: the stub axle 50an d pivot pin 54respectively. The result is that-the housing of themotor .14 instead of beingpivotably mounted .about the axis of the r axlev 2.as shown in FIG S S and 4 ispivotably mounted about the axis of thestub shaft ;50 for the intermediate gearwheel52.

-In a still further modification illustrated in FIG..7 the brackets 28.and 30 shown in FIG. 1 are replaced by longer brackets 130 which arch over and extend to the other side of the axle 2 where the pivot pins 24 and 26 are positioned on the same level as in FIGS. 1 and 2. In this case pivotal movement about the pins 24 and 26 will slightly increase the centre distances between the axle 2 and the output shaft 12 but in all other respects the assembly will function substantially in the same manner as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and described with reference thereto.

lt is desirable in all the above described arrangements that torsional flexibility be provided in the connection between the armature of the motor and the pinion 8, for example by incorporating it in the shaft 12. This feature forms the subject of my earlier application No. 70854 abo've referred to in describing the arrangement of FIGS. 3 and 4 of the present application.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. An electric motor and driving wheel assembly comprising a live axle adapted to carry rotatable wheels adjacent the opposite ends thereof, an electric motor operatively connected to said live axle for pivotal movement relative thereto, means for so mounting said motor, a drive shaft carried by the motor, and gearing between said drive shaft and said axle, said mounting means for mounting the motor for pivotal movement relative to the axle comprising link means journalled on the axle, said link means having a portion thereof projecting laterally of said axle, said mounting means including additional means carried by the motor terminating laterally spaced from the axle and in line with said projecting portion for receiving said projecting portion and mounting the same for pivotal movement relative thereto.

2. An electric motor and driving wheel assembly according to claim 1 wherein the axis of said pivotal connection with said axle is on the same side of the axle as the centre of gravity of said motor.

3. An electric motor and driving wheel assembly according to claim 1 wherein the axis of said pivotal connection with said axle is on the opposite side of the axle to the centre of gravity of said motor.

4. An electric motor and driving wheel assembly according to claim 1 wherein two links are provided which are pivotally connected to the axle and motor respectively and pivotally connected together on an axis parallel to the axes of said axle and drive shaft.

5. An electric motor and driving wheel assembly according to claim 4, wherein said link means comprise two links, one at each end of the motor each link having a connection to a motor part for pivotal movement relative thereto about a common axis lying in a vertical plane parallel to and between the vertical planes passing through said axle and said drive shaftrespectively.

6. An electric motor and driving wheel assembly comprising a live axle adapted to carry rotatable wheels adjacent the opposite ends thereof, an electric motor operatively connected to said live axle, means mounting the motor for pivotal movement relative to the axle,

a drive shaft carried by the motor, and gearing between said drive shaft and said axle, said means mounting the motor for movement relative to the axle including restraint means for restraining movement of the axis of the motor drive shaft in parallelism with the axis of the axle, said restraint means comprising (a) at least one link having a part journalled on the axle and a part projecting laterally of the axle, and (b) support means on the motor and laterally spaced from the axle, said support means journalling said link at a region of said projecting part remote from the axle.

7. An electric motor and driving wheel assembly according to claim 6, wherein a torsionally flexible coupling is provided in the driving connection between said motor drive shaft and said gearing. 

1. An electric motor and driving wheel assembly comprising a live axle adapted to carry rotatable wheels adjacent the opposite ends thereof, an electric motor operatively connected to said live axle for pivotal movement relative thereto, means for so mounting said motor, a drive shaft carried by the motor, and gearing between said drive shaft and said axle, said mounting means for mounting the motor for pivotal movement relative to the axle comprising link means journalled on the axle, said link means having a portion thereof projecting laterally of said axle, said mounting means including additional means carried by the motor terminating laterally spaced from the axle and in line with said projecting portion for receiving said projecting portion and mounting the same for pivotal movement relative thereto.
 2. An electric motor and driving wheel assembly according to claim 1 wherein the axis of said pivotal connection with said axle is on the same side of the axle as the centre of gravity of said motor.
 3. An electric motor and driving wheel assembly according to claim 1 wherein the axis of said pivotal connection with said axle is on the opposite side of the axle to the centre of gravity of said motor.
 4. An electric motor and driving wheel assembly according to claim 1 wherein two links are provided which are pivotally connected to the axle and motor respectively and pivotally connected together on an axis parallel to the axes of said axle and drive shaft.
 5. An electric motor and driving wheel assembly according to claim 4, wherein said link means comprise two links, one at each end of the motor each link having a connection to a motor part for pivotal movement relative thereto about a common axis lying in a vertical plane parallel to and between the vertical planes passing through said axle and said drive shaft respectively.
 6. An electric motor and driving wheel assembly comprising a live axle adapted to carry rotatable wheels adjacent the opposite ends thereof, an electric motor operatively connected to said live axle, means mounting the motor for pivotal movement relative to the axle, a drive shaft carried by the motor, and gearing between said drive shaft and said axle, said means mounting the motor for movement relative to the axle including restraint means for restraining movement of the axis of the motor drive shaft in parallelism with the axis of the axle, said restraint means comprising (a) at least one link having a part journalled on the axle and a part projecting laterally of the axle, and (b) support means on the motor and laterally spaced from the axle, said support means journalling said link at a region of said projecting part remote from the axle.
 7. An electric motor and driving wheel assembly according to claim 6, wherein a torsionally flexible coupling is provided in the driving connection between said motor drive shaft and said gearing. 